The present invention relates to a cigarette making machine for domestic use and, more particularly, to improvements thereto.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,731,971, issued on Jan. 24, 1956 to Karl Kastner, discloses a cigarette making machine for domestic use which compresses a portion of tobacco equivalent to one cigarette and then injects the tobacco in a pre-formed cigarette tube by means of a plunger. The pre-formed empty cigarette tube is held at one end of a hollow nipple of the cigarette making machine during the injection of the portion of tobacco. Once the compressed tobacco is fully injected into the pre-formed cigarette tube, it is released from the cigarette making machine to be smoked or stored for later smoking thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,127,900, issued on Apr. 7, 1964, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,278, published on Oct. 25, 1983, each by the present inventor, provide various improvements to the cigarette making machine described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,731,971. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,127,900 discloses modifications to the above described cigarette making machine to adapt it for making cigarettes with pre-formed cigarette tubes having a filter at an end. U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,278, discloses a cigarette making machine of the same general type as discussed above, but by providing a new manufacturing method for substantially reducing the cost of production of the prior art devices.
With the advent of xe2x80x9cexpanded cut tobaccoxe2x80x9d, developed by the tobacco industry over the years, the users of the above described cigarette making machines have encountered problems therewith. The expanded cut tobacco is characterized by smaller grains of expanded tobacco compared to the longer strands that were used by all tobacco manufacturers. The expanded cut tobacco increases the volume of tobacco by more than 100%. With the expanded cut tobacco, the above disclosed cigarette making machines must sustain greater operating pressures when compressing tobacco, whereby the mechanism within the cigarette making machines gets worn and has a tendency to fishtail, as will be explained hereinbelow. The fishtailing causes uneven compression of the tobacco by the compressing chamber of the cigarette making machine, and thereby causes the tobacco to be unevenly distributed in the cigarette.
Therefore, it is a feature of the present invention to provide a cigarette making machine substantially which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art.
According to the above features, from a broad aspect, the present invention provides a cigarette making machine of the type wherein a portion of tobacco for one cigarette is compressed into a generally cylindrical form within a compressed tobacco chamber. The tobacco is thereafter axially moved and injected by an elongated spoon member into a preformed cigarette tube disposed on a hollow nipple exteriorly of the machine. The compressed tobacco chamber has a portion thereof defined by a moveable wall member. The moveable wall member is actuated by a handle exteriorly of the machine through at least two toggle joints linking the moveable wall member to framing of the machine. The moveable wall member is displaceable between a retracted position and a tobacco compacting position. Each toggle joint has a first and a second link pivotally interconnected at a joint. The first link of each toggle joints is in pivotal connection with the moveable wall member. The second link of each toggle joints is in pivotal connection with the framing of the machine. Each first link has a substantially rounded head portion at the free end thereof. The rounded head portions are in operative contact with an abutment surface of the moveable wall member, for strengthening the pivotal connection therebetween.